A & P
A & P
John Updike | |
|[pic] | | |[pic] | |
|Consider: | | |Commentary: | |
|Setting is central in this story—there are four: | | | | |
|• store: strict order—every shelf organized by product and lable; conformity—shoppers walk up and down | | |Updike’s story is a classic “coming-of-age” tale | |
|aisles (like sheep). | | |about a young man who makes a brave stand...all to | |
|• town: small and parochial; residents never venture five miles to the coastline. It’s also close to | | |no avail. He learns a hard lesson about adult life. | |
|Salem, Mass., a sly allusion to the 17th-century witch trials— an even slier allusion to the McCarthy | | | | |
|hearings in Congress. | | | | |
|• McCarthy era: in the 1950’s, Communists are 20th-century witches, and suspicious individuals needed to| | |Sammy speaks to us with a sarcastic, irreverent | |
|be rooted out. | | |voice—he’s very funny; at the same time, his jabs | |
|• summer: affluent tourists flock to the shore. | | |are trenchant and insightful. | |
|[pic] | | | | |
|Order and conformity are primary thematic concerns. In the store, the town, and the culture of the | | |Updike is having fun in this story: think of it as | |
|1950’s, individuality, eccentricity, or just going against the tide created suspicion. The entrance of | | |a mock romance—a knight in shining armor who comes | |
|the girls, in their state of undress and wayward meandering through the aisles, represents a serious | | |to the aid of a damsel in distress. Medieval | |
|disruption to order. | | |romances were all about knights and nobles, and | |
|[pic] | | |Sammy even calls his young damsel “Queenie.” | |
|Be sure to catch the humor in the story— Sammy’s wry, cynical commentary about pretty much everything. | | |Compared to Sammy, she’s of noble birth: think | |
|My favorite is Sammy’s wonderment when he picks up the jar of herring and hears Queenie talk: "I slid | | |martinis vs. beer. | |
|right down her voice into her living room” where life is far classier than what he’s used to. The | | | | |
|comparison between the martinis with “olives and sprigs of mint” and his own family’s “Schlitz in tall | | |Also, for those too young to remember, A & P stood | |
|glasses” is incredibly funny. Yet the humor also points to the very real class distinctions between | | |for the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, at one | |
|affluent summer vacationers and less affluent “townies.” | | |time the largest national grocery chain. In the | |
|[pic] | | |1950’s and 60’s, the A & P was ubiquitous, much like| |
|Sammy quits on principle—to defend damsels in distress. But when he goes to receive a reward for his | | |Wal-Mart today. You could walk into an A & P | |
|heroic deed, he’s severely disappointed. He learns a hard lesson: the world is a tough place for those | | |anywhere in the country and find the cat food. They | |
|who stand on principle or for those who yearn to be free of mind-numbing conformity. | | |were all alike. | |
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